3 ms·

A external hardware-based solution? In an age when banks are already allowing photographs of cheques be deposited? A "mobile" payment solution has to work from

by symesc 17y ago

A external hardware-based solution? In an age when banks are already allowing photographs of cheques be deposited? A "mobile" payment solution has to work from software on out, while deploying existing hardware in devices: cameras, touch screens, radios. No, I don't think this is A) viable, or B) something we'd see from someone like Jack Dorsey. This is something we'd see from a credit card company looking to keep the old business model breathing.

silencio 17y ago
I particularly like the idea, especially after the first payment-processing apps started showing up on the App Store but without any sort of accompanying hardware or ability to capture the credit card number. Just because you need external hardware to read credit cards doesn't mean the hardware isn't feasible for use. Neither does it mean this service needs to require that you swipe a card or only accept credit cards. I for one would love to have a garage sale with such a device, or to go sell my knitted or baked goods at some gathering somewhere where people without such a mobile device might be at a disadvantage payment-wise. I could also, depending on how durable the external hardware is, see using this in a retail setting to accept credit cards in a convenient manner, like at the Apple Store. I know my AmEx card has expresspay (pretty much just rfid on your card) so I can just wave my card near a reader instead of swiping, but I can't see that being standardized for all cards, nor can I see that really working out for consumer devices like the iPhone. I could sort of maybe see cameras, but that ends up taking more time than a simple swipe. So why complicate things?
- symesc 17y ago
  Good points. But I'm not sure I would trust someone with a card reader on his iPhone to swipe my credit card. . . . And while I'm also uncomfortable at the gas station doing the same, I have a higher degree of confidence that the station is legitimate.
  - Zev 17y ago
    And while I'm also uncomfortable at the gas station doing the same, I have a higher degree of confidence that the station is legitimate. Why can't a gas station use this software?
devicenull 17y ago
What's wrong with it? It requires nothing except what would seem to be a fairly simple device, that reads the magnetic stripe. I'd imagine the cost of that is a lot less then getting a "real" credit card processing unit.
Zev 17y ago
I think you missed the mark on Squirrel, completely. This is, to me, one of those things that you can show people and they'll think this is why I have a computer or cell phone. There is only one bank (USAA, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10check.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10check.html?_r...) that accepts photographed checks on the iPhone. Besides, I don't know anyone that carries checks around, whereas almost everyone I know carries a credit card and some (usually small) amount of cash around. The cash usually doesn't break up easily. Whereas with credit, you can bill the exact amount necessary. Only, its pretty difficult for people to accept credit cards from a friend. Squirrel changes this. It's person to person, peer to peer payment. You can go out to dinner with someone and split the check, exactly and not have to deal with "Do I owe you $10 from last weeks dinner? Didn't I buy you a few beers last night?". You can have a garage sale or a stand at a market somewhere and accept payments right there in more forms then cash. This is likely to be far more convenient to use then a check is.

by symesc 17y ago

silencio 17y ago

I particularly like the idea, especially after the first payment-processing apps started showing up on the App Store but without any sort of accompanying hardware or ability to capture the credit card number. Just because you need external hardware to read credit cards doesn't mean the hardware isn't feasible for use. Neither does it mean this service needs to require that you swipe a card or only accept credit cards. I for one would love to have a garage sale with such a device, or to go sell my knitted or baked goods at some gathering somewhere where people without such a mobile device might be at a disadvantage payment-wise. I could also, depending on how durable the external hardware is, see using this in a retail setting to accept credit cards in a convenient manner, like at the Apple Store. I know my AmEx card has expresspay (pretty much just rfid on your card) so I can just wave my card near a reader instead of swiping, but I can't see that being standardized for all cards, nor can I see that really working out for consumer devices like the iPhone. I could sort of maybe see cameras, but that ends up taking more time than a simple swipe. So why complicate things?

symesc 17y ago
Good points. But I'm not sure I would trust someone with a card reader on his iPhone to swipe my credit card. . . . And while I'm also uncomfortable at the gas station doing the same, I have a higher degree of confidence that the station is legitimate.
- Zev 17y ago
  And while I'm also uncomfortable at the gas station doing the same, I have a higher degree of confidence that the station is legitimate. Why can't a gas station use this software?

devicenull 17y ago

What's wrong with it? It requires nothing except what would seem to be a fairly simple device, that reads the magnetic stripe. I'd imagine the cost of that is a lot less then getting a "real" credit card processing unit.

Zev 17y ago

I think you missed the mark on Squirrel, completely. This is, to me, one of those things that you can show people and they'll think this is why I have a computer or cell phone. There is only one bank (USAA, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10check.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10check.html?_r...) that accepts photographed checks on the iPhone. Besides, I don't know anyone that carries checks around, whereas almost everyone I know carries a credit card and some (usually small) amount of cash around. The cash usually doesn't break up easily. Whereas with credit, you can bill the exact amount necessary. Only, its pretty difficult for people to accept credit cards from a friend. Squirrel changes this. It's person to person, peer to peer payment. You can go out to dinner with someone and split the check, exactly and not have to deal with "Do I owe you $10 from last weeks dinner? Didn't I buy you a few beers last night?". You can have a garage sale or a stand at a market somewhere and accept payments right there in more forms then cash. This is likely to be far more convenient to use then a check is.